Multi-track exercise fitness apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a multi-track exercise fitness apparatus, including a main frame, and a hypocycloid movement mechanism. The hypocycloid movement mechanism includes an internal gear, an external gear and a force applying member; the internal gear is fixedly connected to the main frame, the external gear internally is engaged with the internal gear, the force applying member is rotatably connected with the external gear, and the force applying member applies force to drive the external gear to roll in the internal gear, such that a movement track of the force applying member forms a hypocycloid. The multi-track exercise fitness apparatus can realize the combination of multiple exercise postures, so that the user can have a more comprehensive exercise effect and a more interesting exercise during fitness.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of fitness apparatus, and inparticular, to a multi-track exercise fitness apparatus with ahypocycloid track.

BACKGROUND

Some common exercise apparatuses, such as exercise bikes (spinningbikes), steppers, mountaineering machines, etc., use mechanicalstructures to control the movement track of the force applying members(such as the pedals in exercise bikes, footboards in the steppers andmountaineering machines). When the human body exerts force on the forceapplying member, the exercise posture is shown through repeatedreciprocating motion to achieve the exercise effect. However, amongthese common exercise apparatuses, the force applying member in a kindof exercise apparatus often only has a single motion track. For example,the pedals in an exercise bike only perform circular motions, and thefootboards in a stepper only swing up and down. It is boring for use,lacks entertainment, and the exercise effect is not comprehensiveenough.

SUMMARY

To this end, in view of the above-mentioned problems, the presentdisclosure provides a multi-track exercise fitness apparatus.

The present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions toachieve:

The present disclosure provides a multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus, including a main frame and a hypocycloid movement mechanism;the hypocycloid movement mechanism includes an internal gear, anexternal gear and a force applying member; the internal gear is fixedlyconnected to the main frame, the external gear internally is engagedwith the internal gear and rolls in the internal gear, the forceapplying member is rotatably connected with the external gear, and theforce applying member applies force to drive the external gear to rollin the internal gear, such that a movement track of the force applyingmember forms a hypocycloid.

Wherein, the multi-track exercise fitness apparatus further includes arestraint transmission mechanism, the restraint transmission mechanismis in transmission connection with the external gear, and the restrainttransmission mechanism constrains the external gear rollably on an inneredge of the internal gear, and receives a transmission of the externalgear, to form a rotation movement around a center of the internal gear.

Wherein, based on installation and manufacturing considerations, it ispreferable that the restraint transmission mechanism is a crank; thecrank is rotatably connected to the main frame, the crank has a rotationaxis collinear with an axis of the internal gear, and the external gearis rotatably connected to the crank.

Wherein, based on installation and manufacturing considerations, it ispreferable that the restraint transmission mechanism is a gear train,the gear train includes at least a central gear, the central gear isrotatably connected to the main frame, and the central gear has arotation axis collinear with an axis of the internal gear; the centralgear is engaged with the external gear, or the central gear is connectedto the external gear through the gear train.

Wherein, in order to make the movement of the force applying memberrelatively smooth without drastic angle changes, better exerciseexperience, and also reduce the strength requirements of fitnessapparatus, the movement track is preferably configured as: every timethe external gear rolls a circle in the internal gear, a track formed bythe force applying member is an ellipse-like similar to an ellipse butdoes not enclose a standard ellipse.

Among them, as the most preferred embodiment, a number of teeth of theinternal gear is 105, and a number of teeth of the external gear is 48or 50, so as to obtain the most suitable hypocycloid track.

Wherein, it is preferable that the force applying member is connected inan annular interval of a quarter radius to a three-quarter radius of areference circle of the external gear.

Wherein, it is preferable that a distance between a connection positionof the force applying member and a center of the external gear isadjustable, so as to realize the adjustment of the exercise intensity ofthe multi-track exercise fitness apparatus.

Specifically, based on installation and manufacturing considerations,the external gear is provided with a plurality of detachable mountingholes with different distances from the center of the external gear, andthe force applying member is rotatably connected in any one of thedetachable mounting holes in a removable way.

Wherein, in order to improve the stability of the movement, it ispreferable that the main frame is provided with a set of the hypocycloidmovement mechanism on each of both sides, the restraint transmissionmechanisms in two sets of the hypocycloid movement mechanism areconnected.

Wherein, preferably, the main frame is further provided with a seatcushion and/or an armrest, and the force applying member is a pedal or afootboard.

Wherein, in order to adjust the exercise intensity of the multi-trackexercise fitness apparatus, the multi-track exercise fitness apparatusfurther includes a damping adjust mechanism, and the restrainttransmission mechanism is in transmission connection to the dampingadjust mechanism.

The present disclosure has the following beneficial effects: for thefirst time in the present disclosure, the track of the force applyingmember is designed as a hypocycloid, such that the multi-track exercisefitness apparatus can make a combination of multiple exercise postures,and enables users to have more comprehensive exercise effect, with theexercise more interesting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of the multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus in Embodiment 1 (angle 1);

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view of the multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus in Embodiment 1 (angle 2);

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the structure of the hypocycloidmovement mechanism and the belt drive system of the multi-track exercisefitness apparatus in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 4 is a comparison diagram of different hypocycloid tracks formed bypoints on the external gear at different distances from the center ofthe external gear when the gear ratio of the internal gear to theexternal gear in Embodiment 1 is 105:50;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a movement track of the pedaloperation for a whole cycle when the gear ratio of the internal gear tothe external gear in Embodiment 1 is 105:48;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ellipse-like track with asubstantially vertical “major axis” when the gear ratio of the internalgear to the external gear in Embodiment 1 is 105:48;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ellipse-like track with asubstantially horizontal “major axis” when the gear ratio of theinternal gear to the external gear in Embodiment 1 is 105:48;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an ellipse-like track with asubstantially inclined “major axis” when the gear ratio of the internalgear to the external gear in Embodiment 1 is 105:48;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a movement track of the pedaloperation for a whole cycle when another optional gear ratio of theinternal gear to the external gear is 105:50;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the hypocycloid movementmechanism in Embodiment 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

To further illustrate the various embodiments, the present disclosure isprovided with drawings. The drawings are a part of the content of thepresent disclosure, and mainly used to illustrate the embodiments, andcan cooperate with the relevant description in the specification toexplain the operation principle of the embodiments. With reference tothese contents, those of ordinary skill in the art should be able tounderstand other possible implementation manners and advantages of thepresent disclosure. The components in the figures are not drawn toscale, and similar component symbols are usually used to indicatesimilar components.

The present disclosure will now be further described with reference tothe drawings and specific embodiments.

Embodiment 1

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, as a preferred embodiment of the presentdisclosure, it is provided a multi-track exercise fitness apparatus thatis similar in appearance to an exercise bike, including a frame. Theframe may includes an underframe for supporting with the ground and amain frame 1 vertically connected with the underframe. The main frame 1may be equipped with a seat cushion 9 and an armrest 10. The main frame1 may be also equipped with a hypocycloid movement mechanism. Thehypocycloid movement mechanism is a mechanism configured to form ahypotrochoid. The hypotrochoid movement mechanism specifically includesan internal gear 2, an external gear 4, and a pedal 5. The internal gear2 may be screwed and fixed to the main frame 1 through a plurality ofscrew joints arranged at intervals. The external gear 4 may beinternally engaged with the internal gear 2, and the pedal 5 can berotatably connected to the end surface of the external gear 4. Themulti-track exercise fitness apparatus also includes a restrainttransmission mechanism, and the restraint transmission mechanism maycontrain the external gear 4 rollably on the inner edge of the internalgear 2 and receive the transmission of the external gear 4 to form arotation movement around the center of the internal gear 2. In thepresent embodiment, the restraint transmission mechanism may be thecrank 3, and the crank 3 may be rotatably connected to the main frame 1,and the rotate axis of the crank 3 is collinear with the axis of theinternal gear 2, the external gear 4 may be rotatably connected to thecrank 3. Then when the user applies force through the pedal 5, theexternal gear 4 may roll inside the internal gear 2 (it can also beregarded as the pitch circle of the external gear 4 rolling withoutslipping within the pitch circle of the internal gear 2), so that themovement track of the pedal 5 can form a hypotrochoid.

Since the pedal 5 is connected to the end surface of the external gear4, the movement track of the pedal 5 may be specifically a shorthypotrochoid. For a short hypotrochoid, its shape may be effected by thereference circle diameter ratio of the external gear 4 and the internalgear 2, and may be effect by the distance between the connectionposition of the pedal 5 and the center of the external gear 4. For thestandardly installed external gear 4 and internal gear 2, the modules ofboth may be the same, and the ratio of the reference circle diameter maybe the ratio of the number of teeth. That is to say: the movement trackof the pedal 5 is affected by the ratio of the number of teeth of theexternal gear 4 and the internal gear 2 (denoted as i), and the distancebetween the connection position of the pedal 5 and the center of theexternal gear 4 (denoted as h). By controlling the two parameters of iand h, various movement tracks of pedals 5 can be obtained. Differentmovement tracks of pedals 5 mean different motion effects and sportsexperience. Those skilled in the art can follow the actual conditions.If necessary, the movement track of the pedal 5 may be designed to meetthe actual needs.

The present embodiment is preferably designed every time the externalgear 4 rolls one circle in the internal gear 2, the movement track ofthe pedal 5 is ellipse-like, and the ellipse-like refers to a shapesimilar to an ellipse, but does not enclose a standard ellipse (as shownin FIGS. 6-8, several movement tracks should be classified as“ellipse-like” in this description). The inventor found after manyexperiments that when the number of teeth of the internal gear 2 is 105and the number of teeth of the external gear is 48 or 50, an idealellipse-like track can be obtained, and under these two gear ratios, thevalue of h will only affect the ratio of “major axis” and “minor axis”of this ellipse-like. As shown in FIG. 4, the tracks of two different hvalues are shown when i=105:50. It can be seen that when h is smaller,that is, the pedal 5 is closer to the center of the external gear 4, andthe “major axis” of the ellipse-like is shorter, the “minor axis” islonger; when the h is larger, that is, the pedal 5 is closer to the edgeof the external gear 4, the “major axis” is longer and the “minor axis”is shorter in this ellipse-like. In other words, the smaller the h, therounder the ellipse-like, and the smoother the corresponding exerciseexperience; the larger the h, the sharper the ellipse-like, and the moreintense the corresponding exercise experience. According to thischaracteristics, in other embodiments, the installation position of thepedal 5 can be set to be adjustable. For example, a plurality ofdifferent detachable mounting holes may be provided on the end surfaceof the external gear 4 according to the radius of the reference circle,and the pedal 5 may be removably installed therein. By adjusting theinstallation position of the pedal 5, the effect of adjusting theexercise intensity can also be achieved. In the present embodiment, thepedal 5 may be installed in an annular zone from a quarter radius to athree-quarter radius of the reference circle of the external gear 4, sothat the exercise intensity of the multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus may be more suitable, and it will be neither too smooth nortoo intense. In addition to the gear ratio of i=105:48 or i=105:50, someother gear ratios can also get the above-mentioned ellipse-like, butmost of them need to determine the specific h value, making a higherprecision requirements on processing and assembly, so it may bepreferable to adopt a gear ratio of i=105:48 or i=105:50.

The movement track of the pedal 5 may be designed to be ellipse-likewhen the external gear 4 rolls for one circle, it not only makes themovement of the pedal 5 relatively smooth without drastic angle changes,and has a better exercise experience, but also reduce the strengthrequirements of the fitness apparatus, and more important, it can alsosimulate and combine various motion postures. In the present embodiment,the number of teeth of the external gear 4 may be selected as 48, andthe number of teeth of the internal gear 2 may be 105 (ie. i=105:48),and h is equal to one-half of the reference circle radius of theexternal gear 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the movement track of the pedal 5running for a whole cycle is shown under the above parameters. It can beseen that the movement track of the pedal 5 includes an ellipse-liketrack with a substantially vertical “major axis” (FIG. 6, marked as thefirst track), an ellipse-like track with a substantially horizontal“major axis” (FIG. 7, marked as the second track), and an ellipse-liketrack with a substantially inclined “major axis” (FIG. 8, marked as thethird track), where:

1, the motion posture of the first track by applying force to the pedal5 is similar to the up and down stepping motion posture on a stepper;

2, the motion posture of the second track by applying force to the pedal5 is similar to the normal running posture;

3, the motion posture of the third track by applying force to the pedal5 is similar to the motion posture of climbing on a mountaineeringmachine.

As a result, the multi-track exercise fitness apparatus realizes acombination of multiple exercise postures at the same time, so that theuser has a more comprehensive exercise effect and a more interestingexercise during fitness.

As an illustration of another preferred embodiment, FIG. 9 also showsthe movement track of the pedal 5 running for a whole cycle wheni=105:50 and h is equal to one-half of the reference circle radius ofthe external gear. It can be seen that it also has an ellipse-like trackwith a substantially vertical “major axis”, an ellipse-like track with asubstantially horizontal “major axis”, and an ellipse-like track with asubstantially inclined “major axis”.

In the present embodiment, the modules of the external gear 4 and theinternal gear 2 can be changed adaptively according to actual needs, soas to obtain a hypocycloid movement mechanism of different sizes tomatch the needs of different groups of people. In this embodiment, Themodules of the external gear 4 and the internal gear 2 may be 3.5.

In this embodiment, respectively, a set of hypocycloid movementmechanism may be provided on the left and right sides of the main frame1, thereby improving the stability of the movement. In otherembodiments, it may be also possible to only have a hypocycloid movementmechanism on one side of the main frame 1, and only has the crank 3, theexternal gear 4 and the pedal 5 on the other side (that is, the internalgear 2 is not provided). The two cranks 3 may be connected by thecentral axis 13, so that the two cranks 3 move synchronously, to matchthe movement of the human legs (two cranks 3 are symmetricallydistributed at 180), connecting two cranks 3 with a central axis 13 is acommon technology in the field of bicycles and exercise bikes, withlower cost and more convenient manufacturing.

The main frame 1 may be also equipped with a belt drive system 6, anadjustable magnet 8 and a metal flywheel 7. The crank 3 may betransmitted to the metal flywheel 7 through the belt drive system 6, andthe resistance may be adjusted by adjusting the distance between theadjustable magnet 8 and the metal flywheel 7, such that the requirementsof different exercise intensities can be made. The magnet 8 and themetal flywheel 7 can also be replaced with other damping adjustmechanisms.

The front and rear positions and height of the seat cushion 9 and theheight of the armrest 10 can be adjusted, which can be easily achievedby those skilled in the art. The frame may be also equipped with pulleys12 that are convenient for carrying multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus.

In this embodiment, the pedal 5 may be provided on the end surface ofthe external gear 4, so that the pedal 5 forms a short hypocycloidtrack. In other embodiments, the external gear 4 can also be coaxiallyconnected to a connecting part with an outer diameter larger than theexternal gear 4, making the pedal 5 connected to the connecting part toform a long hypocycloid track.

The present embodiment is a preferred embodiment derived from thecombination of the hypocycloid movement mechanism and the structure ofthe exercise bike. In other embodiments, the hypocycloid movementmechanism can also be combined with an other fitness apparatus such as aelliptical machine or a mountaineering machine and the like. The pedal 5is replaced with other force applying member (such as footboards) toobtain other multi-track exercise fitness apparatus. For those skilledin the art, it is obvious that it can be done on the basis of that thespecific principle of the hypocycloid movement mechanismthe described inthis embodiment is understood.

Embodiment 2

The present embodiment provides another multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus. Compared with Embodiment 1, it is mainly different in therestraint transmission mechanism. Referring to FIG. 10, this embodimentadopts a central gear 100 instead of a crank, and the central gear 100can rotatably connected to the main frame 1. The axis of the centralgear 100 is collinear with the axis of the internal gear 2′. Theexternal gear 4′ may be engaged with the internal gear 2′ and thecentral gear 100. The central gear 100 is the same as the crank 3 in theEmbodiment 1 that the external gear 4′ is rollably constrained to theinner edge of the internal gear 2′, so that the external gear 4′ keepsengaging with the internal gear 2′. In the axial direction of theexternal gear 4′, a limit mechanism can be provided to form the axiallimit of the external gear 4′, or a tie rod can be optionally added tosupport the external gear 4′.

For the external gear 4′ with a larger size, it is possible that nospace is present in the internal gear 2′ to place the central gear 100(the external gear 4′ and the central gear 100 cannot be directlyengaged). In this condition, the central gear 100 can be placed outsidethe internal gear 2′, the central gear 100 may be in transmissionconnection to the external gear 4′ through a gear train (for example,the external gear 4′ is designed as a dual gear), it is obviouslyachievable for those skilled in the art.

In addition, based on the hypocycloid movement mechanism provided bythis embodiment, it is possible to further add tie rods and increase thenumber of external gears 4′, so as to design the hypocycloid movementmechanism as a planetary gear mechanism that has a higher manufacturingcost, but can further increase the stability of the movement.

Although the present disclosure is specifically shown and described incombination with the preferred embodiments, it should be understood forthose skilled in the art that all the various changes made to thepresent disclosure in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claimsshould fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-track exercise fitness apparatus, whereincomprising: a main frame and a hypocycloid movement mechanism; thehypocycloid movement mechanism comprising an internal gear, an externalgear and a force applying member; the internal gear being fixedlyconnected to the main frame, the external gear internally being engagedwith the internal gear and rolling in the internal gear, the forceapplying member being rotatably connected with the external gear, andthe force applying member applying force to drive the external gear toroll in the internal gear, such that a movement track of the forceapplying member forms a hypocycloid.
 2. The multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus according to claim 1, wherein further comprising a restrainttransmission mechanism, the restraint transmission mechanism being intransmission connection with the external gear, and the restrainttransmission mechanism constraining the external gear rollably on aninner edge of the internal gear, and receiving a transmission of theexternal gear, to form a rotation movement around a center of theinternal gear.
 3. The multi-track exercise fitness apparatus accordingto claim 2, wherein the restraint transmission mechanism is a crank; thecrank is rotatably connected to the main frame, the crank has a rotationaxis collinear with an axis of the internal gear, and the external gearis rotatably connected to the crank.
 4. The multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the restraint transmissionmechanism comprises at least a central gear, the central gear isrotatably connected to the main frame, and the central gear has an axiscollinear with an axis of the internal gear; the central gear is engagedwith the external gear, or the central gear is connected to the externalgear through a gear train.
 5. The multi-track exercise fitness apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the movement track is configured as: everytime the external gear rolls a circle in the internal gear, a trackformed by the force applying member is an ellipse-like similar to anellipse but does not enclose a standard ellipse.
 6. The multi-trackexercise fitness apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a number ofteeth of the internal gear is 105, and a number of teeth of the externalgear is 48 or
 50. 7. The multi-track exercise fitness apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the force applying member is connected inan annular interval of a quarter radius to a three-quarter radius of areference circle of the external gear.
 8. The multi-track exercisefitness apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance between aconnection position of the force applying member and a center of theexternal gear is adjustable.
 9. The multi-track exercise fitnessapparatus according to claim 5, wherein a distance between a connectionposition of the force applying member and a center of the external gearis adjustable.
 10. The multi-track exercise fitness apparatus accordingto claim 8, wherein: the external gear is provided with a plurality ofdetachable mounting holes with different distances from the center ofthe external gear, and the force applying member is rotatably connectedin any one of the detachable mounting holes in a removable way.
 11. Themulti-track exercise fitness apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:the main frame is provided with a set of the hypocycloid movementmechanism on each of both sides, the restraint transmission mechanismsin two sets of the hypocycloid movement mechanism are connected.
 12. Themulti-track exercise fitness apparatus according to claim 2, furthercomprising a damping adjust mechanism, and the restraint transmissionmechanism is drivingly connected to the damping adjust mechanism. 13.The multi-track exercise fitness apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe main frame is further provided with a seat cushion and/or anarmrest, and the force applying member is a pedal or a footboard.